The casket of the late Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud being carried past a guard of honour at Kuching International Airport on Wednesday (Feb 21). - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
KUCHING: The body of the late Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud has arrived at Kuching International Airport.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircraft carrying his body landed at about 4.25pm from Subang.
The casket, draped in a Sarawak flag, was carried by eight pallbearers past a guard of honour mounted by the 11th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment.
A 17-gun salute was fired from the RMAF base next to the airport.
ALSO READ: Taib Mahmud's remains being flown to Kuching
Taib's wife Toh Puan Raghad Kurdi Taib and his four children – Jamilah Taib, Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abdul Taib and Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib – accompanied the body on the flight.
Present at the airport were Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, Deputy Premiers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, state secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki and other state ministers and dignitaries.
The casket of the late Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud being carried to a funeral van at Kuching International Airport on Wednesday (Feb 21). - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
The casket was then transported in a Sarawak State Mosque Charitable Trust funeral van, accompanied by a 19-car convoy and police outriders, to Taib's private residence in Demak Jaya here.
A state funeral will be held at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly complex on Thursday (Feb 22), where the public can pay last respects from 8am to noon.
His remains will be brought to Masjid Demak for prayers before being laid to rest at the family cemetery at Demak Jaya.
Taib, 87, passed away at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur at 4.40am on Wednesday.
